What a great thread! Can't believe I missed it this whole time. I spent about five years turning my old H1 into a BOV capable of making a 1500 mile trip without stopping to get us across 2 state lines during the beginning stages of a SHTF scenario. Had a full setup of BOBs and scepter tanks ready at a moments notice as I believe that for those living in suburban and urban areas your only hope is to get out within the first few minutes or hours of the beginning stages of a crisis. Once the population is aware then gridlock and panic as well as local LEOs will make movement very difficult and treacherous. As a father of two very young children we had to take risk into account. No one wants to try and go all Rambo while carrying a two year old. Realistic mind sets really sink in and the mad max fantasy flys out the window real quick. We now have moved to our BOL and that particular purpose built Hummer is sold. Now I'm building our ex as a do all vehicle but also a get-home rig should SHTF while we're visiting relatives, etc.

I think the most important thing to spend a good amount of time thinking about before you pack your first BOB is what is your plan? Who are you taking and where are you going. It's my belief that any vehicle is a temporary tool and will become useless within the first few days after SHTF. I believe fuel will be gold and guarded with a vengeance so plan your bug out accordingly. For those that don't have a BOL an ex is big enough to basically convert to a mobile shelter of sorts. You could theoretically get as far away as you can and when the fuel ends, park it and you have yourself a hard shelter. Solar panels charging a few deep cycle batteries wired with a cutoff switch to your main power and led lighting will go a very long way. Remember the requirements for survival are water, shelter and food in that order. The wild card is the ability to protect yourself and your supplies from others. If I didn't have a BOL I would find a place as far from civilization that your ex could be driven to (think BLM land, fire roads, etc) and the plan would be to get out there and drive your ex into a wooded area where hiding it would be possible. For those that say an ar is not a good choice due to its ability to hunt with...I just built a 10.5" 300blk ar that will be a wonderful hunting rifle along with a nice suppressor. Shooting off a high powered rifle or handgun is just a way of letting everyone within a few miles know your there and your general direction. .22lr is gold. It's 100x better if it's suppressed. Most of your hunting will be birds, and small varmints. Even a cheap gamo whisper rifle would be wonderful as a food getter.

I already have my ex setup with 37s, but the end goal is to get some hmmwv 12 bolts recentered for the ex, so I get my run flats back. A hmmwv silver eagle trailer would make a great BOV trailer and they're pretty inexpensive on gov-liquidator.

 

Hi guys Im back after a small break, kinda bummer about posting pics but will continue writting as time provides. Will be heading to MI for a week long vacation home, and enjoy sometime setting up the WarX with more stuff....I was lucky to pick up for the cheap a rear deck box with cypher locks...they go for 2000K and up grabbed it on craiglist for 300. Will be installing it securely while at home.

Im glad some of you are enjoying this thread....if you happen to be in MI drop me a PM we can meet..Please continue sharing...the SHTF moment is closer than you think..

 

I'm often in the Cadillac area...you close to there?

 

I'm in DH near Livonia, your 200miles away...

 

Actually I'm in Indy, I have a 100 acre wood near Cadillac, but I do have a customer that I visit every now and then in Livonia...you might have of them Ford Motor Company? Their ATNPC engineering building is next door to the Livonia Transmission Plant.

When we're in Livonia we'll often stop at Kicker's or The Yacht Club for lunches.

 

100acre wow now thats a place for a nice compound or a training center....been looking for 40 to start something like gunsight or thunder ranch..

Tired of working for the dark side....

yes very familiar...lol

 

It's our deer hunting Mecca.

 

Great thread for getting the creative juices flowing.

 

My wife want me to go ahead and get us a rooftop tent for the Ex. I'll probably go for the Maggiolina AutoHome Maggiolina top roof tents for car camping. But, somewhere I got it into my head that the Ex roof is really only good for carrying up to 200lbs. Now, the roof top tent plus the weight sleeping in it will put us at 400lbs at minimum so I'm worried it's getting too heavy for the roof.

Has anyone used a rooftop tent on the Ex? Do I have to worry about the weight?

 

The weight rating on the factory crossbars is just that, for the factory crossbars. Those roof mounted tent systems typically provide their own crossbar system to use in conjunction with the factory rails. The rails are mounted closest to the roof edge to provide a very sturdy base.
I don't know the exacts, but those rails can hold a lot.

Think of it this way. All vehicles made after yadda-yadda date (sometime in the late 70s I think) were constructed to be able to support the weight of the vehicle if it were flipped upside down for safety reasons in the event of a roll-over. Think back to the B and C pillars of old cruisers in the 50s....pencil thin. Now take a look at the pillars of today's vehicles, including the Ex...very thick, and probably with inner sleeves as well. So you gotta figure a ton or more can easily rest on the roof rails if distributed correctly across amply rated crossbars.

Have no worries about sleeping up there. My old '86 diesel Toyota LC had one and it held up plenty. The most I had up there was maybe 500lbs between three people and some gear.

 

Makes sense TinMan. Thanks!

 

Not to harp on this too much, but it's fairly common for this to happen ...

Ford Excursion Rollover - Ford Excursion Roof Crush Roof Collapse Failure in Rollover Accident

 

Fairly common? I've never seen it, and you supplied a link to an advertisement from an attorney.

 

Yes that's true.. yet there have been several posts on FTE over the years of folks who had Excursions or SD where the roof crushed exactly like that with the A-pillar pancaking like that. I think a project build thread (check the stickies at the top) by sunshinefan (or something like that) actually found the picture of the family in the Ex that rolled the roof flat.

I'm not suggesting it happens everyday, but the impression that the roof on the excursion is extremely strong would be a mistake - IMO.

Found the link for you..
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post11205039

 

So I figure this is the place to ask but to whom of you have fire extinguishers in the truck where did you mount them so they are not in the way but easy access.

The reason I started thinking about this is because I watched a very young lady driving with no lights on in the dark( I tried to get her attention) and proceeded to get hit and her car was on fire that quick too. If I would have been in my other truck (I have one in there) I would have been able to save her car from total loss. I know the car is not a huge loss since she was ok dazed and confused but ok